Thursday, July 07, 2005

Does Michael Jackson....

Work at a summer camp around here?

July 7, 2005 -- A 14-year-old boy set fire to his family's Bronx home and then shot himself to death yesterday after fighting with his father — because he didn't want to go back to summer camp, authorities said. Tariq Samuels first exchanged angry words with his dad at the Vyse Avenue house in the Crotona Park East section — which the family uses on weekends — then walked out and torched the family SUV, which was parked nearby, authorities said.

Later on, after his father, Fitzroy Samuels, left the three-story brick house, Tariq returned and removed the batteries from several smoke detectors, cops said.

Tariq didn't want to harm the family dog, so he tied the Rottweiler to a pole in the backyard.

He then poured gasoline in a closet in his room and around his parents' bedroom, tossed paint thinner in the hall and lit a match.

Once the house was in flames, Tariq shot himself in the head with a .38-caliber revolver.

Carl Edwards, 56, who lives on the second floor, said he ran outside and saw gasoline on the stairway carpet.

Edwards said the family, who are immigrants from Jamaica, usually stay at a home in Harlem.

Firefighters doused the flames, but by the time they pulled Tariq out, he was dead.

Police said Tariq had gone to camp after completing eighth grade last month, but wanted to stay home for the rest of the summer. He had complained that his father was "too strict," a police source said.